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It is often said that sovereignty is ever less meaningful in the modern world. Yet, sovereignty claims continue to proliferate. There are two elements: the subject of self‐determination (sovereignty) claims and the object. Scottish independence and Brexit are two examples, yet they differ in important ways. Brexit postulates that the British people are the subject and complete sovereignty is the object. The Scottish independence movement claims the Scottish people is the subject but now places the object (independence) in a European context of shared sovereignty. Analysis of questions placed in the Scottish Social Attitudes Survey (2021) shows that, in spite of Scottish politics being polarised around the issue of independence vs. union, voters show flexibility about what each of these actually means. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brexit aimed to restore sovereignty to the United Kingdom. That rested on an interpretation of the UK as an internally integrated and externally bordered sovereign state. Another interpretation is that the UK is a plurinational union, in which the issue of sovereignty is contested. Devolution in 1999 left this issue in abeyance, while membership of the EU provided an external support system. Brexit removed this external support and resulting territorial tensions are exacerbated by the fact that majorities in Scotland and Northern Ireland opposed it. There have been three responses: to reconstitute the United Kingdom as a unitary state; to fragment it into its constituent parts; and to seek a differentiated Brexit. Only Northern Ireland has been granted such an exception, at the insistence of another Member State. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The issue of sovereignty has never been resolved in Scotland. The 1998 Scotland Act, creating the Scottish Parliament affirmed that the Westminster Parliament is sovereign, but this is disputed. In practice, the issue was left largely in abeyance as sovereignty was seen as an outdated concept. The Scottish independence referendum of 2014 and the UK Brexit referendum of 2016 both brought back the question of sovereignty in stark terms. Analysis of data from the British Election Study of 2019 with regard to (a) the right of Scottish self‐determination, and (b) the right of a UK‐wide majority to take Scotland out of the EU, allows us to identify 'sovereigntists' and 'unionists'. Sovereigntists, on both dimensions, now constitute a majority. A smaller group of unionists reject both positions. There remains a group of 'semi‐sovereigntists' who accept Scottish self‐determination, but also that the UK as a whole should decide on Brexit. Controlling for the social and political factors, Scots are increasingly polarised around issues of sovereignty, which have become central to contemporary Scottish politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Scottish independence referendum on 18 September 2014 produced an apparently decisive result, with 45 per cent for independence and 55 per cent against. Yet, it has not settled the constitutional issue. There was a huge public engagement in the campaign, which has left a legacy for Scottish and UK politics. Scotland has been reinforced as a political community. The losing Yes side has emerged in better shape and more optimistic, while the winners have struggled to formulate the better autonomy package they had promised. Public opinion continues to favour maximum devolution short of independence. Scotland is a case of the kind of spatial rescaling that is taking place more generally across Europe, as new forms of statehood and of sovereignty evolve. Scottish public opinion favours more self-government but no longer recognizes the traditional nation-state model presented in the referendum question. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the political condition in Scotland after the victory of Scottish National Party (SNP) in 2011 elections. The success of SNP provides the possibility of having a referendum on independence in 2014. The SNP government stressed that Scottish independence may help control the indicators of macroeconomic policy. Information on the difference between independence and devolution, neo-liberal policy on tax, and fiscal autonomy is also highlighted.

Jim Bulpitt understood the UK as an eminently political creation, emphasizing the role of elites in managing diversity. He can be criticized for underplaying the ideology of union, for dismissing Labour unionism and for an excessively central and Tory perspective. His insights, however, remain useful in analysing the current collapse of unionism, if not of the Union itself. His key concept of central autonomy explains why current neo-unionist efforts to forge Britishness are unlikely to succeed, since they imply a stronger territorial articulation of the state itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Keating M. and Stevenson L. (2006) Rural policy in Scotland after devolution, Regional Studies 40, 397–407. Governments across Europe, encouraged by the European Union, are moving from an agriculture policy, defined in sectoral terms, to a rural policy, with a spatial focus. Rural policy is a transversal policy, linking a number of sectoral concerns and interests. This makes it an interesting study, both of changing policy networks under devolution in the UK, and of the extent of policy distinctiveness in Scotland. Rural and agriculture policy are devolved in Scotland but ate also highly Europeanized. Devolution has led to a change in political and administrative structures and in policy communities, which are now more distinct and self-contained in Scotland. Scotland has gone its own way on several important issues, but Europe is a force for convergence of policy within the UK. Rural policy is still dominated by agriculture, and Scottish policy emphasizes maintaining the small farmers. There is, however, some evidence of a broadening of the agenda. Keating M. and Stevenson L. (2006) Rural policy in Scotland after devolution, Regional Studies 40, 397–407. Governments across Europe, encouraged by the European Union, are moving from an agriculture policy, defined in sectoral terms, to a rural policy, with a spatial focus. Rural policy is a transversal policy, linking a number of sectoral concerns and interests. This makes it an interesting study, both of changing policy networks under devolution in the UK, and of the extent of policy distinctiveness in Scotland. Rural and agriculture policy are devolved in Scotland but ate also highly Europeanized. Devolution has led to a change in political and administrative structures and in policy communities, which are now more distinct and self-contained in Scotland. Scotland has gone its own way on several important issues, but Europe is a force for convergence of policy within the UK. Rural policy is still dominated by agriculture, and Scottish policy emphasizes maintaining the small farmers. There is, however, some evidence of a broadening of the agenda. Politique rurale, Régionalisation, Ecosse Keating M. and Stevenson L. (2006) Rural policy in Scotland after devolution, Regional Studies 40, 397–407. Governments across Europe, encouraged by the European Union, are moving from an agriculture policy, defined in sectoral terms, to a rural policy, with a spatial focus. Rural policy is a transversal policy, linking a number of sectoral concerns and interests. This makes it an interesting study, both of changing policy networks under devolution in the UK, and of the extent of policy distinctiveness in Scotland. Rural and agriculture policy are devolved in Scotland but ate also highly Europeanized. Devolution has led to a change in political and administrative structures and in policy communities, which are now more distinct and self-contained in Scotland. Scotland has gone its own way on several important issues, but Europe is a force for convergence of policy within the UK. Rural policy is still dominated by agriculture, and Scottish policy emphasizes maintaining the small farmers. There is, however, some evidence of a broadening of the agenda. Ländliche Gebietspolitik, Dezentralisierung, Schottland Keating M. and Stevenson L. (2006) Rural policy in Scotland after devolution, Regional Studies 40, 397–407. Governments across Europe, encouraged by the European Union, are moving from an agriculture policy, defined in sectoral terms, to a rural policy, with a spatial focus. Rural policy is a transversal policy, linking a number of sectoral concerns and interests. This makes it an interesting study, both of changing policy networks under devolution in the UK, and of the extent of policy distinctiveness in Scotland. Rural and agriculture policy are devolved in Scotland but ate also highly Europeanized. Devolution has led to a change in political and administrative structures and in policy communities, which are now more distinct and self-contained in Scotland. Scotland has gone its own way on several important issues, but Europe is a force for convergence of policy within the UK. Rural policy is still dominated by agriculture, and Scottish policy emphasizes maintaining the small farmers. There is, however, some evidence of a broadening of the agenda. Política rural, Transferencia de competencias, Escocia [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the impact of the devolution in Scotland on its political representation. The devolution was undertaken to develop a political class more representative of the country as a whole. In reality the devolution has accelerated trends towards a professional background in Scottish representative. Significant representativeness by gender increased but not social or occupational background. Devolution has not had a positive effect of civil service in the country.

The twentieth century saw a convergence of the Scottish and English systems of higher education. Since devolution in 1999 there has been divergence. English policy is based on differentiation and competition, while Scotland has favoured integration and more egalitarianism. Scotland has not followed England in introducing up-front tuition fees or top-up fees. These differences are consistent with overall patterns of divergence in public service provision after devolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the relationship between sovereignty and nationalism in Québec and Scotland. The author reflects on independence movements in relation to public support for self-government and the link made by nationalist parties between national self-affirmation and transnational integration. Other topics include the link between Scotland and the European Union, public opposition to referendums in Québec, compromises between separatism and federalism, and the influence of free trade on local-central government relations.

Devolution provides large scope for Scotland to make its own policy. Primary legislation is one measure of this. Scottish legislation before devolution tended to replicate measures for the rest of the United Kingdom, with differences of style. Scottish legislation in the first four-year term of the Parliament shows a big increase in output. There is an autonomous sphere, in which Scotland has gone its own way without reference to the rest of the UK. In other areas, there is evidence of joint or parallel policy-making, with Scottish legislation meeting the same goals by different means. Finally there is a sphere in which Scottish legislation is essentially the same as that in England and Wales. Sewel motions have not been used to impose policy uniformity on Scotland. There is evidence that devolution has shifted influence both vertically, between the UK and Scottish levels, and horizontally, within a Scottish legislative system that has been opened up. † Katherine Taylor completed her phd on english and scottish education and culture policies in march 2002. she now works for the department for education and skills. * The study forms part of a larger project on devolution and policy divergence in the united kingdom, taking in a variety of measures including expenditure patterns and case studies of specific areas. it is funded by the esrc programme on devolution and constitutional change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Scotland) Act marks a major change in central-local relations in allowing selective intervention in the expenditure decisions of individual councils. The criteria for action, based upon the concept of 'excessive and unreasonable' expenditure are broadly drawn. In taking action against seven councils in 1981-2, the Scottish Office applied its own criteria inconsistently. The case against the councils tacked intellectual credibility and an alternative 'hit list' could as plausibly be produced. The councils' reactions and the exchanges with the Scottish Office show a varied pattern, with a minority stressing the principle of local autonomy. The Act has failed to achieve the objectives which central government appeared to have in mind. It has, instead, further eroded local autonomy and destabilized central-local relations in Scotland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Scottish Housing Plan system was intended to bring about a radical change in the relationship between central and local C government. by giving authorities greater scope to devise policies relative to local needs. In practice. Housing Plans provide a formal framework around which bargaining and negotiation takes place. Developments since 1979, however, have resulted in the abandonment of local government having a central, comprehensive role in housing provision. The Housing Plan system has had an important influence on the pattern of central-local relations, but the original hopes for the Housing Plan system, of a more rational, integrated approach. remain unfulfilled. The air of technocratic dominance which featured heavily in the theoretical arguments for the system has been superseded by the operation of political bargaining. Housing Plans are a key mechanism within the policy framework. although not in the way intended by its progenitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of the Scottish Office in policy-making has been subject to a number of interpretations. It is difficult to regard it as having its own reserved policy spheres but it is clear that in certain circumstances it has the ability to forge its own policy lines. In the 1950s, in contradiction to the stated policy of the then Conservative Government, the Scottish Office was able to secure the designation of a new town at Cumbernauld, The main impetus for this policy came from the civil servants in the Department of Health for Scotland, seeking to preserve the philosophy of the 1946 Clyde Valley Plan, The case study throws considerable light on the bargaining process within government, the role of the secretary of state as spokesman for Scottish interests and the way in which the Scottish Office can gain Cabinet approval for its proposals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the approaches to economic and industrial development in Scotland. The Scottish Office is responsible both for urban policy and for a significant part of regional policy. The Secretary of State for Scotland has responsibility for allocating selective regional assistance in Scotland and is involved in the designation of assisted areas for all regional policy measures. At the same time, practically all the urban blackspots in Scotland are within the assisted regions. The reason for the relatively harmonious relationships in local economic development lies in another feature of Scottish government structure, the existence of development agencies in the form of the Scottish Development Agency and the Highlands and Islands Development Board. Finally, in Scotland there is a tradition of integrated land-use and economic planning, which provides inspiration for the creation of the regions.

The article discusses the Scottish Office as an example of devolved administration and looks at the role of the Secretary of State. The Scottish and Welsh Offices are exceptional among the British government departments in that their responsibilities do not concern the exercise of one function or group of related functions throughout Great Britain, but the exercise of several groups of functions in a part of Great Britain. In Scotland and Wales, the Offices are seen also as a means of exerting political pressure on the center, to put them at an advantage compared with the regions of England in securing their share of national economic resources. The permanent heads of departments report directly to the Secretary of State and not to the permanent head of the Scottish Office. The future of the Scottish Office is discussed.

In the United Kingdom Parliament, Scottish MPs operate at two levels, the ''Scottish level " and the "U. K. level" Their behaviour at the Scottish level is examined through case studies which show them making demands for distinctive Scottish policies. This is evidence against the homogeneity thesis of British politics. Their behaviour at the U. K. level is examined through quantitative measures of committee activity, promotion, sponsorship of legislation, and media coverage. At this level, most Scottish MPs concentrate on securing benefits for Scotland and are not fully integrated into the U. K. political system. A minority of Scottish MPs are "U. K. oriented" and their behaviour points up the Scottish orientation of most of their colleagues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]